SJCC Talks

Words to the Wise Series: Intriguing Authors & Conversations

Renata Lubinsky: "Around Seattle in 80 Dates"

Sunday, February 10 | 2 pmTicket & book: $20 | $15Ticket only: $10 | $8In local author Renata Lubinsky’s memoir, “Around Seattle in 80 Dates: An Online Dating Journey,” a woman in her forties finds herself suddenly single after 32 years with the same man. Her story includes heading off to a resort on the Indian Ocean, becoming a stand-up comedian, and conquering the online dating world by scheduling three or four dates a day for several years. After dating 80 men, she had learned many things in her quest to remain a vital and exciting woman. She also fell in love again and later married date #80.

Filled with insights and lessons, Lubinsky’s memoir is both entertaining and heartbreaking. Join us for an afternoon of anecdotes from the author’s journey and search for love in Seattle. Book sales and signing.

Join our launch book club with author Kitty Zeldis. Receive an advance copy of her new book, “Not Our Kind” to prepare for an intimate, author-led discussion.* With echoes of “Rules of Civility” and “Gentleman’s Agreement,” this thought-provoking novel set in postwar New York City illuminates the lives of two women—one Jewish, one not—on the cusp of change, and the wholly unexpected consequences of their meeting. Gripping and vividly told, “Not Our Kind” asks how much our past can and should define our future.

Kitty Zeldis is the nom de plume of Yona Zeldis McDonough, an award-winning Brooklyn-based author of novels and non-fiction books for adults and children. She is also the fiction editor at Lilith Magazine.

SJFF Film & Author: Jamie Bernstein's Memoir "Famous Father Girl"

The oldest daughter of revered composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein offers a rare look at her father on the centennial of his birth in a deeply intimate and broadly evocative memoir. “Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein” is an intoxicating tale and an intimate meditation on a complex and sometimes troubled man, the family he raised, and the music he composed that became the soundtrack of their entwined lives. Jamie Bernstein is a writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker. She travels the world as a concert narrator. The event includes author interview, discussion, and Seattle Jewish Film Festival screening of the documentary film, LEONARD BERNSTEIN: LARGER THAN LIFE. This author is presented in partnership with The Jewish Book Council. Reception, book sales, and book signing to follow.

This special event is part of the 24th annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival 2019. Film admission only included with SJFF pass.

Karen Treiger: "My Soul is Filled With Joy"

Tuesday, April 30 | 7:30 pm$10 | $8 “My Soul is Filled with Joy: A Holocaust Story,” tells the tale of local author Karen Treiger’s in-laws, Sam and Esther Goldberg. Sam was one of approximately 65 people to survive the Treblinka Death Camp, where more than 870,000 people were murdered. Sam escaped the camp and ran to the nearby forest where he met Esther, who had been hiding there for more than a year with the help of two gentile families. Treiger’s book tells the story of her family’s journey of ancestry and discovery as they retrace Sam and Esther’s steps from Treblinka to the Polish forest to liberation. A former editor-in-chief of the New York University Law Review, Treiger retired from her law practice in 2015 to research and write this true and harrowing story of hope, love, and survival. Book sales and signing.